Kinako Chiffon Cake

After my last post on Pu-Erh Chiffon Cake, I did a chiffon cake again last week. However, that chiffon cake (I shall leave it unnamed) failed terribly. Initially it rose nicely in the oven, but for some reasons, it started to shrink before the baking time was up. Upon unmolding, it was 1/4 of the supposed height and the top was badly dented. :( It didn't look like a chiffon cake and it didn't taste like a chiffon cake. Sigh... I have to blame it on my poor skills again. If my success rate for my chiffon cake is listed on the stock exchange, I will strongly urge everyone of you not to buy this "stock". Haha...

Recently, I bought a pack of soy bean powder (kinako) without any idea in mind what I want to do with it. I managed to find a few recipes in Keiko Ishida's Okashi book that uses kinako. Hmm, should I bake another chiffon cake? If I fail again, that goes my precious kinako. Keeping fingers crossed, I proceeded ahead and I am absolutely satisfied with the outcome. My chiffon cake is tall and mighty! Success!!

I don't know why but this Kinako Chiffon Cake has a slight peanut butter taste. Haha... I would not have guessed correctly that it is kinako, if I am not the one making it. An light and interesting cake with a nice aroma! :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #1: Chiffon Cakes (Nov 2010) hosted by Small Small Baker.

Kinako Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: Okashi – Sweet Treats Made with Love by Keiko Ishida

Ingredients (Makes a 20-cm tube cake)
(A)
50 g pastry flour
5 egg yolks
20 g brown sugar
60 g water
60 g canola oil
50 g soy bean powder (kinako)
(B)
180 g egg whites (about 5 eggs)
90 g castor (superfine) sugar
10 g rice flour / corn flour

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Sift flour once.
2. Combine egg yolks and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well. Add water and canola oil and blend together. Add flour and mix until batter becomes sticky, then fold in soy bean powder. 
3. To make meringue:  Combine sugar and rice or corn flour. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add half of sugar and flour mixture and continue beating for a few minutes, then add remaining sugar and flour mixture and beat until egg whites are glossy, with stiff peaks.
4. Add one-third of meringue into egg yolk mixture and fold in lightly, then add remaining meringue and fold to incorporate completely.
5. Pour batter into an ungreased chiffon cake tube pan. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes. When cake is done, remove from oven and turn it over, leaving it to cool.
6. Once cake has cooled completely, carefully run a knife or spatula around the sides of the cake to loosen it before inverting onto a wire rack.

Notes
- I replaced pastry flour with cake flour; brown sugar with castor sugar.
- I omitted the red bean cream and sesame seeds for garnishing.